1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-counterfeit sealing cap with identification capability, particularly to an anti-counterfeit sealing cap with wireless frequency identification capability.
2. Description of Related Art
Spirits, beverages, cosmetics and other valuable liquids need protection against counterfeit and theft during transport. Usually, caps of liquid bottles are equipped with protective measures and techniques, as follows:    1. A protective ring is attached at a lower edge of a cap, which is destroyed upon any attempt to open the bottle, so that unauthorized opening and resealing of the bottle is easily detected, by which the contents thereof may have been exchanged.    2. Characters or drawings are printed on the cap which are invisible under normal light, but visible under ultraviolet light, thus identifying the bottle as a genuine product.    3. Three-dimensional printing and a polishing treatment identify the bottle as a genuine product.
Above conventional protective measures use optical methods or destruction of packaging to recognize counterfeit and protect against unauthorized opening and resealing. However, examining of bottles has to be performed manually, there are no specific product data stored, and bottles have to be examined one by one, resulting in difficulties for mass production and processing of data.
Another conventional protective measure lies in using bar codes to store product data. This method, however, requires a bar code reader, storage space is limited, so that detailed information has to be stored elsewhere, e.g., on a server computer, and are not immediately accessible. Furthermore, reading bar codes requires optical scanning of samples one by one and is therefore not suitable for quick processing of large volumes.
To meet recent demand for high sales volumes, automatization and quick processing of mass-produced items, wireless identification (RFID) techniques have been developed. A wireless identification device mainly comprises a tag, an antenna and a reader. The tag is equipped with a semiconductor chip. Having entered a magnetic field generated by the reader, an electric current is induced, which supplies energy for reading out and sending data stored on the chip. Sent data are received by the reader and transmitted to a central processing system.
Since reading of data is performed without contacting and without wires, large volumes of data are read out fast, making this method suitable for high-volume processing and sales. Large supermarkets, security checkpoints for air and sea freight and customs checkpoints have introduced RFID for faster processing and increased security.
Currently, usage RFID is still in an introductory phase and has so far only partly replaced the usage of bar codes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,619 “Method and system for preventing counterfeiting of high price wholesale and retail items” discloses a cap equipped with a semiconductor chip and an antenna. The chip is read out only once and then destroys itself, so that there is only a one-time reading capability, not allowing for repeated reading of data.
However, the antenna of this RFID device has a limited area, which restricts an angle of reading, and the chip is not protected from being dismounted and reinserted in counterfeit products, so that no effective protection against pirating is achieved. Furthermore, the chip is only usable once for reading and uses its readability immediately after that. But for the distribution of goods, reading of information is often required at various stages, which cannot be performed from conventional chips. Therefore, conventional RFID devices still need some improvement.